Kerupuk Ulat Sagu

The potential of sago flour as an alternative food product is supported by its adequate nutrient content. It can be used as an ingredient to make various processed products such as crackers (kerupuk) in order to develop high value added sago product through diversification. There are some important species of sago which are widely used in sago starch production in Maluku. Three popular ones are known as molat, ihur, and tuni. Ulat sagu (larvae of red palm weevils) which have high protein and fat content and are usually consumed by people in Maluku can be used as an alternative meat product such as chicken, beef, prawn, or fish in making crackers. In addition, various local marine natural resources are available such as tuna fish dan prawn and can be used in crackers making for enhancing the nutritional value of the crackers.Results showed that crackers made from different sago starch (molat, ihur and tuni) mixed with different ingredients (prawn,tuna fish and ulat sagu) had no significant difference in their chemical compositions, except for ash and  fat content. Physical properties such as colour of both unfried and fried crackers were mainly determined by different sago starch being used, while their textures were affected significantly by the mixed ingredients used. The best linear expansion of the crackers was achieved by molat and ihur sago starch. Tuni sago starch yielded a poor linear expansion which will give poor crispiness for the crackers produced. Moreover, the crispiness gave higher contribution to the overall likeness of the crackers. Crackers made from sago starch mixed with prawn and ulat sagu were preferred by panelists while those mixed with tuna fish were slightly preferred. Overall, crackers made from molat and ihur sago starch mixed with ulat sagu had no difference with those made from prawn and fish which had already been consumed widely.